As the construction industry continues to drive the COVID-19 economic crisis to an end, we welcome the news of a federal infrastructure spending program. On its face, the deal that was announced late last week would invest $973 billion over a five-year period and could scale up to $1.2 trillion for eight years. The plan’s focus would be on funding for roads, railways and bridges, the need for which is well-documented.
This is encouraging news, as the country desperately needs modernized roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, rail and public transportation to ensure people can get where they need to go in a timely, safe and healthy fashion. The plan will also meet the needs of localities, which depend financially on being able to offer convenient ways for people to get from their homes to transportation hubs or suburban offices with little disruption.
While building cannot be done virtually, it has been proven that the home office and support functions can be. The program also earmarks funds to upgrade the country’s communications and internet infrastructure. This would benefit those contractors who have elected to keep these functions remote or hybrid, as the facilitation of more telecommuting will save employers excess expenses.
The need is real, and this news is a positive step toward the government investing long-awaited capital into our infrastructure. The biggest challenge we have now is the lead time from a bill being introduced to it going through the legislative process, getting signed by the President and entering the design phase.
As we wait, Grassi’s Construction Practice stands ready to guide and support you with managing cash flow as backlogs are burned off and federal infrastructure dollars remain pending.
